Disenchanting
by Captain Symmetry
Summary: Maka's mother comes to Death City, after years spent travelling the world, to visit Maka; Maka finds herself disappointed when the woman she looked up to and aspired to be isn't the hero from her childhood.
1. The Letter

**New story, yeah! I am proud to announce that this will be a full length story (and by full length I mean over three chapters).**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater, if I did, Soul and Maka would have hooked up a loooong time ago, Black Star would be forced to wear a gag at all times and Kid would be in my bed _straightening everything_ out.  
>(I'm liking that disclaimer, I'm thinking I might use it as like a default, personal disclaimer for my Soul Eater fics.)<strong>

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><p><strong>Disenchanting<strong>

The letter

Maka checked the mail dutifully, flicking through the handful of envelopes finding an amenities bill, a bank statement, a letter addressed _'To The Householder'_, and a smaller envelope addressed to _'Miss Maka Albarn, Unit 5, 83 Hollow Road, Death City, Nevada, USA'_ everything was handwritten and there was no return address on the back, but Maka instantly recognised the handwriting. Tearing open the envelope with enthusiasm often associated with children unwrapping Christmas presents, the meister stood in the doorway of her apartment, pyjama clad with her sandy-blonde hair tangled about her shoulders, eyes wide as if to take in as much of the letter as she possibly could.

'_My dearest Maka,_

_As you know, I have been travelling the world these past few years and have missed a lot of irreplaceable time I could have spent with you; I am proud to announce that I will be visiting you in Death City on the 28__th__ of September and staying for a month or two depending on how long I can stave off your father. I do hope it wouldn't be too much trouble for me to stay with you for that time, as far as I'm aware there aren't many hotels in Death City and as you can imagine, staying with Spirit would not be in my best interest. I look forward to catching up these past few years with you._

_I'll be thinking of you 'till then, lots of love, Mama.'_

By the time Maka had read the letter over, twice to check she had read it correctly, Soul had noticed his meister's absence, and the draught coming from the open door; sitting up properly and peering over the back of the couch, he found Maka standing stock-still in the doorway, like a mannequin for sleepwear. "Umm, Maka, you right?" Soul's voice broke her from her trance and Maka turned to face him with tears in her eyes and a piece of lined paper in her hands, the sight of his roommate in tears had alarms ringing in his head. "What's wrong? What's that letter? Did something bad happen?" Maka just laughed, a shaky chuckle, but a laugh none the less.

"Nothing's wrong, I'm just so happy, and not just happy, excited and stunned, mostly stunned." Maka wiped the tears from her smiling face and made her way over to Soul, handing him the letter. "Read it." Doing as he told, lest his meister burst into tears at his disobedience, Soul began reading while Maka stood above him, wringing her hands, anxiously awaiting his response.

"So, your mum's coming to stay?" Soul appeared infinitely less excited than Maka at the news.

"Yes!" Maka's eyes lit up, as if hearing the news from someone else confirmed what the letter had already told her.

"And she's staying here?" Still not feeling the excitement, Soul noticed a fatal flaw in this plan.

"Of course, I would never allow my Mama to stay in some hotel, let alone with _him._"

"You do realise that we only have two beds right?" Soul hopped that, that little reality check would bring Maka back to Earth.

"Yes Soul, I am aware of how many beds are in the apartment we've been sharing for four years; she can have my room."

"And where are you sleeping, smart-ass?" That got her.

"I- umm… I didn't think of that." Maka mumbled her confession, embarrassed for having not thought that far ahead. "I guess I could sleep on the couch..."

"I know you don't actually want to do that." Feeling rather smug, Soul continued to poke holes in her plans.

"You're right, I don't, but it's worth it, I haven't seen Mama in years." With that in mind, Maka was filled with determination, she was _not _going to let something as trivial as sleeping on the couch for a month or two ruin her mother's visit; seeing the steely resolve in her partner's eyes, Soul gave up unravelling Maka's not-so carefully constructed plans, instead opting to shower and dress in preparation for Black Star's visit later that day.

"Right, if that's what you wanna do, that's cool." With a half hearted salute/wave over his shoulder, Soul retreated to the bathroom which he shared with Maka.

X_x

Maka hummed tunelessly to herself as she prepared a sandwich for her lunch, left in a bright mood by her mother's letter. _Mama said she's visiting on the 28__th__ of September, that's 17 days away! I'd better clean the apartment before she arrives._ Thoughts like these had tumbled in and out of Maka's head all morning, every time one came to her attention she would instantly feel the world light up with joy and excitement, and her heart and stomach dance with each other. _I wonder what we should have for dinner when she comes? Will my cooking suffice, or should we go out somewhere nice?_ And again, the feeling returned.

X_x

"So Maka's Mother's making an appearance?" Black Star's usually unnecessarily loud and irritating voice took on a much more tolerable tone, in awe of the news that Maka's mysterious mother was visiting.

"Yeah, I'm kind of excited, nowhere near as much as Maka, but from what she's told me, her ma must be pretty cool; I kinda looking forward to meeting this woman." Soul walked alongside his teal-haired friend, coke in hand as they made their way to the courts for a relaxed game of basketball, if such a thing were possible of the chronically competitive meister. "She's gonna be staying at our place for a month, maybe two."

"Wait, your place? As in your tiny apartment? Don't get me wrong, your place is great and all, but I didn't think you really had the room for guests."

"We don't Maka's offering up her room, and she plans to sleep on the couch." With a shrug, Soul made it apparent that he didn't understand Maka's motives much more than Black Star did.

"Maybe she could sleep with you, eh." Black Star offered a wink and a nudge (or an elbow jab to the ribs) to his friend and took off down the street before Soul had a chance to retort to the sleazy, suggestive comment. _Typical Black Star, can't keep his mind out of the gutter for a minute; it's a wonder he maintained normal conversation for so long, I should have known it wouldn't last._ Soul shook the thought from his head and started after the obnoxious ninja, conspiring to defeat him as revenge.

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><p><strong>So yeah, there's the first chapter, this one's kinda short but I promise they will get longer. Leave a review and tell me what you think, reviews make me very happy and make me want to write faster, so if you review it's win-win.<strong>


	2. The Big Day

******So, this update took much longer than anticipated, I really thought I could get this up a lot sooner, and I'm not going to lie, I just got _really_ lazy and neglected _everything_. What do you expect, I've been on holidays for the past few weeks, you would think I'd take advantage of that and get some writing done, but I didn't.**

**Anyway, I'll _try_ to be a little more frequent with my updates, but there are no promises, after all I'm starting year 11 on Monday (that's when shit gets serious at school) so I kind of want to not slack off and write fic instead of doing an important assignment (which knowing me will have been left 'till the last minute anyway).**

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><p><strong>Disenchanting<strong>

**The Big Day**

The days before Kami's arrival in Death City were hectic at the Albarn/Eater household. Maka was running about like a mad woman cleaning everything within an inch of its life, all the while thrusting lists of chores to be done or groceries to be bought into Soul's reluctant hands.

On the morning of the 28th, Maka could be found standing in front of her full-length mirror, scrutinizing her appearance as if any single hair out of place would mean shame and disownment from her mother. After one final check of the abnormally clean apartment, Maka took a small handbag filled with the bare essentials and called for her tardy partner to accompany her. "Soul, hurry up, we need to get going if we want to be at the airport to meet Mama." The weapon made his way out of his room and to the front door dressed in clean, ironed casual clothing and with his hair combed for what Maka assumed to be the first time in years. Smiling in approval of her partner's unusually neat appearance, and with a feeling of pride for her weapon who she could proudly display to her mother, Maka lead the way out of the apartment and down to the street where the taxi she had booked was waiting for them. "You look very sharp Soul." She commented, causing her weapon to flush slightly and shuffle uncomfortably in his seat to face out the window.

"Yeah, well, your Ma visiting clearly means a lot to you, I figured you would want me to make a good first impression."

"Thanks, Soul." When Soul turned away from the window and to his meister, he couldn't help but catch her contagious smile, she was just too happy for him not to catch on. This was, after all, a very important day for the young girl; not that she could really be called a young _girl_ anymore, more like young _woman_. She was always mature and smart, but there's this air which one collects about oneself, of experience gained, which marks the difference between a mature child and an adult. Maka had most certainly gained this air in recent years; it's only justified that she be recognised as a young _woman._

X_x

The airport was a few miles away from Death City itself, surrounded by dessert with one road leading to or from it and straight to Death City. Once flight had become a popular mode of transport, Lord Death saw it fit to have an airport at Death City, making travel easier. The only issue with this was that Death City was a very old city and very compact in its design, with its winding cobblestone roads, making it impossible to install a runway of any sort - not to mention the poor citizens who would have to live within a close proximity to the site; thus the idea to build the airport a short distance out of the city was born. Maka usually wasn't fazed at all by the city's airport being outside the actual city itself, but today it seemed like they would have to cross the entire dessert before reaching the terminal. She had fidgeted the whole ride over, constantly bugging either Soul or the unfortunate taxi driver with 'how much longer?' and 'are we almost there?' Needless to say, everyone involved was relieved when they finally arrived at the airport. "Do you suppose that plane coming in now is hers?" Maka's face was pointed to the sky, starry eyes transfixed on the metal bird coming in to land.

"Dunno." Came Soul's intelligent response.

"Maybe she's already inside waiting for us- Soul! Quickly, we have to get going, I don't think I could live with myself knowing that I was late to pick up Mama because I was out here _gawking_ at a _plane._" Grabbing Soul by the wrist, Maka promptly dragged her weapon through the automatic glass doors and proceeded to rigorously scan the crowd of passengers for her mother.

"How do you even know if she's here yet? She never gave you a specific time that she would be here." Soul was quite fed up with being dragged around, and regardless of how excited he may have been, Soul does _not_ like to be manhandled, and if you were to point out that technically he is being manhandled during battle, he would reply that _'it's a completely different thing!'_

Feelings of emasculation aside, the pair found themselves in the deceptively large check-in area of the airport with people hurrying about with luggage, eager either to catch their flight or to enter Death City after their ride over. "Maybe we should find somewhere to sit and wait, that cafe over there looks nice, why don't we go get a coffee or something, and we'll be able to see your mother when she comes out too."

"Soul, you _know_ I don't drink coffee," Soul knew all too well that Maka shouldn't be allowed to drink coffee, once the caffeine enters her system there's no telling what might happen. It's like Black Star (who under the effects of caffeine is much the same as usual) hyped up on every type of stimulant drug known to mankind. Needless to say, giving Maka coffee was a bad idea.

"They _do_ have other stuff there too. Last time I checked you don't go ape-shit from a hot chocolate; plus I'm sick of standing here like we're lost, let's go."

After a few minutes of ordering beverages and deciding on a table with an appropriate view, the duo settled in their seats - Maka watching for her Mama, and Soul watching Maka glow with anticipation; the light in her eyes only ever wavering when someone she thought to be her mother turned out to be a stranger, but never dying out.

It was an hour before Kami made an appearance, Maka spotted her, luggage in tow and wandering about the lobby, apparently in awe of the building; it must have been renovated since the last time she was here. Maka jumped from her seat, running to her mother with such enthusiasm Soul thought that maybe her hot chocolate had actually been a mocha. "Mama!" Maka glomped Kami and received a much lighter, but equally loving hug in return.

"Maka, my darling, how I've missed you! You've grown so much, why you're almost as tall as me! Let me get a proper look at you, you've grown up so much these past few years. How long has it been again? Surely not long enough for my baby girl to turn into this young lady."Kami pulled Maka out of her embrace and held her at arm's length to inspect the changes that had occurred over the years, she certainly had matured, she was yet to develop much in the way of curves, although speaking from her own experience with puberty, Kami reasoned that her daughter was just a later bloomer.

"It's good to see you too, Mama! When I first read your letter I thought I must have been dreaming, it was just too good to be true, but you're actually here."

"I am, my angel, I'm back in Death City. I never thought I would be, but here I am!"

Soul had stayed a few feet behind Maka as a courtesy to the newly reunited women and to get a good look at the elusive Kami Albarn, or whatever her surname was now that she was divorced. He had figured that Maka would resemble Kami seeing as she looked nothing like Spirit, but he hadn't realised just how much Maka had of her mother in her; it was like looking into the future, a very busty future. Kami stood only two or three inches over her daughter, her hair of the same dusty gold as Maka's was cropped short at her shoulders, and her eyes held the same determined fire in their green depths which Soul would immediately associate with Maka. They both shared the same ivory skin tone, but Maka's nose must have been Spirit's doing.

"I'm sorry, where _are_ my manners, I'm Kami, Maka's mother, of course you already knew that," A delicate hand was extended to Soul in greeting, he grasped it firmly, taking back anything he had thought about this hand being delicate, this woman had one hell of a grip, as to be expected from a meister of her talent and experience. "You must be Maka's partner. Tell me, what kind of weapon has my daughter chosen to master?" The smile on Kami's face made it difficult to refuse her an answer; she was too like Maka in that way.

"Scythe, Ma'am." Before he could speak to properly introduce himself, Soul was cut off by Kami's response.

"My darling, you're wielding a scythe, just like your Mama did! A difficult but rewarding weapon to master, I'm sure you have no issue of course - I never did. Although I dropped your father the first few times I held him, I learned fast and just look where it got me! When I first came to Shibusen I never thought I would reach three-star status, but I did. What a day that was! Now we really must get going, I'm afraid all that time in the air is catching up to me, and I would like to see where my precious Maka has been living these past few years."

"Of course, Mama! Soul could you take Mama's bag, please?" While Kami prattled on, Maka had remained smiling the whole time, taking in every word her mother spoke, and when she requested to leave, Maka was more than happy to oblige and didn't think twice about offering up Soul to take care of the baggage before taking her mother by the arm and leading her to the exit, conversing excitedly.

X_x

_Bag_ was an understatement, it was easy to see where Maka got her tendency to pack everything except the kitchen sink from; although judging by the weight of the suitcase, Kami _did_ pack the kitchen sink and then some. Poor Soul half carried/half dragged the case to where the women were standing by a cab, the whole time wondering if his arms were still attached to his shoulders.

"He's not very punctual, is he?" Kami's tone held a hint of contempt for the boy who was only just struggling to pull the suitcase through the building's entrance.

"It might not look like it, but he's actually very reliable, a little lazy, but definitely dependable." Feeling certain that she had saved Soul's reputation in the eyes of her mother, Maka watched her partner with pride, still buzzing from her Mama's clear approval of her fine choice of weapon partner.

The drive back to the apartment was full of the chatter of Maka and Kami as they talked about things such as how amazing The Sphinx was in real life and how Kami was severely disappointed when she came to Egypt only to find out that the Pyramid of Anubis had been destroyed a few months earlier, and that she would show Maka _all_ of her photos when they got home. Maka spoke significantly less, instead listening intently and offering occasional comments. Soul sat in the front to give the two some privacy, and to avoid their conversation.

X_x

"And _that's_ when I realised the Mona Lisa actually doesn't have eyebrows, I'd never noticed before, but she is completely eyebrow-less, and did I mention how small it is in real life? It seems _so_ much larger in photographs." Kami stopped her recount of all the notable artworks in The Louvre to admire the building which they had just pulled up outside of, she noted that it was a very odd looking thing, resembling a patchwork quilt more than a building. Sections jutted out from a wall of every colour imaginable, the senior meister couldn't help but feel slightly put-off by the mismatched appearance of her daughter's supposed home, and her supposed accommodation.

"This is it, Mama, it's not much seeing as we're on a student's budget, but its home." Maka turned to her mother, grinning like a fool, took her by the hand and ushered her into the lobby where she waited while Maka stood outside a moment longer to address her partner. "Soul, could you grab Mama's bag, please?" Taking his lack of objection as an affirmative, Maka disappeared into the building with Kami, leaving Soul to once again, attend to the impossibly heavy bag.

"_Soul, could you grab Mama's bag, please?_" Practicing his best high-pitched, nasally 'Maka voice', Soul managed to get the bag out of the trunk of the taxi and onto the pavement and was about to head inside with the luggage when a gruff voice spoke up from inside the taxi.

"Ey, you gonna pay me or not? I aint leavin' without my money," the taxi driver looked serious and Soul knew better than to piss off a public servant, taxi drivers included, and so he reluctantly pulled out his wallet to pay the fare before lugging the bags up the five flights of stairs to his and Maka's apartment. It's not that he didn't expect to be doing a bit more work to allow Maka some extra time to catch up with her mother, in fact, he was quite happy to help out given the occasion, but the pack mule act was getting old fast.

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><p><strong>Does everyone hate Kami yet? Do we all agree that she's a bitch? If not, then hopefully you will soon, because I <em>really<em> don't like her at all.**

**Remember to spread the love and review!**


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